RESPONSE OF CHICKPEA (Cicer arietinum L.) TO VARIETIES, INOCULATION WITH MESORHIZOBIUM STRAINS, AND APPLICATION OF BLENDED NPSB FERTILIZER AT CHEHA DISTRICT, GURAGE ZONE, SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is a major legume crop in Ethiopia and provide multiple benefits, dueto high nutritive value as well as the ability of the crop to enrich nitrogen poor soils due to biological nitrogen fixation with different strains of end symbiotic Mesorhizobium spp. However, the effectiveness of the strains varies due to inherent physiological characteristics of the endo-symbionts, the host varieties, and nutrient availability in the soil. Its’ cultivation in the study area is constrained mainly by low soil fertility (low N, low soil OM, low available P, S and B) causing ineffective nodulation, and lack of improved agronomic practices. Therefore, the field experiment was conducted during the main cropping season of 2021/22 at Cheha district in Buchach Kebele with the objective of evaluating the effect of inoculation with Mesorhizobium strains and NPSB fertilizer application on nodulation, growth, and yield performance of different chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) varieties.Factorial combinations of three Mesorhizobium strains CP-M41, CP-EAL 029, CP-M20b, and un-inoculated control, two NPSB levels (0 and 121 kg NPSB ha-1) and two chickpea varieties (Local and Arerti) were laid out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Analysis of variance showed that crop phenology, nodulation parameters, growth parameters, yield and yield components were significantly affected by the main effects. The effect was more pronounced in the interaction effect of different Mesorhizobium strains with NPSB application and varieties. The maximum values of most studied parameters were found from Arerti variety at the combined application of CP-M41 Mesorhizobium strain with NPSB fertilizer (121kgha-1) as compared with the single application and the control. The highest grain yield (3177.16 kg ha1) was recorded from the use of Arerti variety at the combined application of NPSB fertilizer with CP-M41 Mesorhizobium strain, which resulted in 15.96%, 24.06% and 37.93% increment over the use of Arerti x CP-M41 strain, Arerti x NPSB, and the control, respectively. From the economic point of view, the partial budget analysis of the study treatments revealed that the highest net return (102,092.6 ETB ha-1) with an acceptable marginal rate of return (618%) was gained from Arerti variety with the combined application of 121 kg NPSB ha-1 and Mesorhizobium strain CP-M41 inoculation. Hence, it can be concluded that the use of Arerti variety with combined application of 121 kg NPSB ha-1 with CP-M41 strain is found to be an appropriate combination to get higher yield and profit of chickpea crop at the study area. However, verification of the result on farmers’ fields across season and areas could be required before wide use of this study to put the recommendation in firm ground.